Personal terms are understood to have been agreed in principle with Mourinho, who is also keen to bring in highly-rated Atletico Madrid sporting director Andrea Berta.

Italian Berta is understood to be a close friend of Mourinho’s agent, Jorge Mendes.

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His arrival at Old Trafford would see the job of signing players moved from executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to him.

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United have so far claimed they will not be looking to appoint a director of football, but Mourinho is keen to have the freedom to overhaul the squad and has already spelled out his potential summer targets to the club.

It would relieve Woodward of responsibility for securing the signatures of transfer targets, freeing him up to concentrate on the commercial side of United's operations.

United’s performances on and off the pitch have plummeted alarmingly over the last three months and shareholders will want answers.

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They are bidding to become the first club to turn over £500million in one financial year, but Van Gaal has already missed out on one of their targets by failing to reach the Champions League quarter-finals.